UTICA, NY - Utica University's men's cross country team is set to begin its NCAA postseason push by competing in the Niagara Regional Event. The event will be hosted by RIT at Genesee Valley Park. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers' last event was two weekends ago when the team ran in the Empire 8 Championships.
Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) placed first overall with a 25:34.2, securing an Individual E8 Championship. Tobia Jeralds placed 15th overall, with
Killian Bauer (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill),
Anthony Leotta (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West), and
Timothy Jeralds (Canaan, NY/Chatham Central) rounding out the team scoring all inside the top 25. As a squad, Utica placed second overall, following SUNY Geneseo, which had five of its six runners finish between second and seventh overall.
Familiar Routes: Throughout the season, the Pioneers have often found themselves returning to the same courses. During the regular season, the team ran on Hamilton College's course three different times. The NCAA Regional event will also be a familiar course, as the team previously ran at Genesee Valley Park in the University of Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational.
The the Yellowjacket Invitational, a total of 312 runners competed, representing 25 different institutions. The Pioneers placed 9th as a team, again led by a strong 7th overall finish of 25:44.4 by Melita. The team scoring was made up of the same five runners in the same order as the E8 event, with the final four all finishing between 27:16.4 and 27:52.4.
Revisiting Regionals: The 2024 Niagara Regional was hosted by SUNY Fredonia on November 16th. 170 athletes ran in the event, representing 28 institutions. Of the 22 teams to finish with a team score, the Pioneers placed 12th. Melita was the only Utica runner to punch their ticket to Nationals with his ninth overall finish time of 25:13.8. The Individual Regional champion was a SUNY Geneseo runner, Charlie Wilson, who crossed the finish line in 24:51.8. NYU placed five runners between 3rd and 8th overall to win the team scoring.
Up Next: After Regionals, the only remaining event would be the NCAA Division III Championships. There are two avenues to qualifying for Nationals: winning the event as a team or being one of the top eight individual runners who are not already members of the winning team. If any Pioneers do punch their ticket, they will travel to Spartanburg, SC on November 22nd to compete for the title of National Champion.
